Happy Friday and Stock selection

Happy Friday!

I hope you're having a great Friday!  I just finished picking my first stock( PBI )! A few weeks ago it was trading at ~17$, but is now near it's 52-week of $12.81.  There were two major factors that I used in selecting the stock I chose:

1. The stock should have a long history of paying regular dividends.  Not every so often, but yearly, quarterly, or monthly for at least 5 years.
2. The stock should be trading at an amount that would allow at least a 5% yearly gain through dividends alone.  

I set these rules in place because I don't believe in trading worthless pieces of paper.  Most stocks (IMHO) are just tokens people buy and try to sell for a profit to someone else.  Requiring regular dividends means that I don't have to care whether the stock's price goes up or down. This is because I'll continue to get that % return every year in the form of a dividend regardless of how much I paid for it.

 Have  a great weekend!

P.S.  I forgot to mention the two main tools I used were Google Finance and Dividend.com's list of Stock that have increasing dividends for the last 25 years.

Two thoughts for Tuesday

Hey guys! My aim if going to be the exact opposite of your kooky relative who is always giving you unsolicited stock tips. Instead, I would like to discuss and write about thoughtful, useful, and actionable financial ideas.

So, I decided to take the time to explore two alternative methods I might go to build some side income.  My goal is to research and develop a process that would allow all my hard work  keep earning me residual income.  GAH!  Pretty pretentious sounding, but stick with me.

Idea 1 - Digital Cash Machine
 I'm currently user of Prosper.com, where I have noticed that there is a considerable difference between the rate at which an AA level borrower pays versus that of an A or B would.  There is definitely room for arbitrage there.  The process would look like this:

I borrow $2000 at ~7.4%(I'm around AA or A), then re loan those funds across notes on the level directly below me.  The overall net would be only about 1%($20), but that's money I didn't have to work for AND it would boost my credit score.

Would this be worth the amount of risk/exposure I'd have? I'd be responsible to pay back the loan even if I didn't collect all that I had received.  Of course I could pay it back faster than required and therefore make a better margin. Hmm.

Idea 2 - The Dividend Delivery
After looking at dividends .com, I've found a number of stocks that have a 30 year history of paying regular dividends.  Most of these range between 3-5% of their current market value, meaning that's my effective earnings each year regardless of if there value goes up or down.

Please let me know your thoughts!

http://www.addpoll.com/solomonsk5/poll/202616

 Ps. Does anyone know how to embed a poll directly into a site? Simple would be preferable to refined, but any suggestion or thoughts help. Have a great day!


----------------------------UPDATE 5/14/12----------------------------


So I have decided to use  Scottrade  as my online broker.  Their $7/trade is competitive and the minimum balance is only $500.  When you sign up they ask you to fund it and drop-off a sign-up form at a local office, but seem fairly lenient about enforcing it- It's been setup for about two weeks now and I haven't been warned or anything.  


Oh yeah- Free trades for both of us if you'd like to let them know I pointed you in their direction!

Referred by: SOLOMON KNOWLTON 
ReferALL code: OPRH6640

Goals for this Year (GFTY 2012)

Quick thoughts on Goals for this year:

Hey guys!

So I've had some time to reflect on my finances the last couple of days and a thought occurred to me,

“Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.”

Fitzhugh Dodson

So I took a  few minutes and figured these out.

1. Research and (maybe) buy stocks that regularly distribute dividends.
    1a. Have enough invested by June 1, 2013 that it pays at least 1 month of my tuition repayments every year

2. Help people use their ESPP here at work. The experience of helping others with finances is something I     really enjoy.  Hopefully, I can get a deal where I help them finance it and extend my passive income too.☺

3.  Save 80% of the money I'll soon be receiving from roommates.
     3a. Get a 6 month fund, then pour it towards either paying down loans or building dividends

4. Build a basic commercial website- one that can sell products and isn't cheesy.
     4a. Don't care if it's for me or someone else, the experience is what matters.

F***!

Well crap. I'm starting this blog so that I can keep myself accountable to my spending and financial goals.

The screencap below is the major force behind this:

First, I should note that $2k of that was actually not an expense but a loan to a personal loan so they could finish their school. The other $2100 in January was an extra payment on my mortgage (I end up getting 26 paychecks a year, so i used the extra one on that.

Still, that's pretty fucking bleak looking. Definitely not eating out at all this month (or helping cover friends!) and I'll be reviewing my expenses compulsively for ways to cut back.  I'm thinking I should do what my folks advised a year ago: get cash out for Groceries and gas, keep them separate, and once you're run out you're done.


**Update: I did eat out, but it was paid for by the friends who invited me.**